Aftermath
by ladyd10
Summary: Post episode Backfire. Just a continuation from the morgue scene at the end.


_**Aftermath**_

Eric held Calleigh in the morgue until she finally pulled away, eyes moist, breathing harsh and labored. It was obvious to him that her stubborn, impassioned, plea that she made for closure on the case had been ill-thought out and she was now suffering for it. He had argued against her leaving the hospital, but was met with an immovable object; Calleigh, herself. Weak and exhausted as she was, she managed to get him to agree, but only if she'd return to the hospital to finish convalescing. Her departure from the hospital had been unauthorized and on her own head. Eric could hear the air as it wheezed in and out of a rapidly narrowing bronchial passages.

As he released her from the embrace, she rested her head on his shoulder, leaning heavily on him. His voice was soft, but firm. "I'm taking you back to the hospital now; no arguments, Querida. You should never have checked yourself out; I told you that before."

Calleigh struggled to draw in a full breath; she coughed once, twice. "Take me back. I can't breathe. I'm sorry-" She broke off with another volley of coughing wracking her body.

Eric supported her until she got herself back under control. "Can you walk?"

She nodded and allowed him to carefully steer her out of the morgue and into a department Hummer. He knew he was no longer authorized to drive a County vehicle, but it was an emergency and as long as Calleigh was in the vehicle he was alright....he hoped. Hitting the lights and siren, he peeled out of the parking lot and screamed into traffic, weaving and dodging slower moving vehicles the entire way. Taking a chance of getting himself into further trouble, he opened the radio frequency.

"I have an officer down in respiratory distress. I need an escort to Dade Memorial. I'll need a trauma team to meet us at the emergency entrance!" Eric shouted into the transmitter. He glanced to the side and noted that Calleigh was taking slow, shallow breaths in an attempt to keep the distress she was currently experiencing at bay.

Calleigh closed her eyes and tried to still her breathing from it's frantic pace. It was like trying to breathe through a straw with a stuffed up nose. She couldn't get enough air into her lungs, but if she tried to breathe any deeper, she'd set off a wild cacophony of wracking, painful coughs that left her weaker and more oxygen starved than she felt already. She didn't regret leaving the hospital to put closure on Patrick Dawson's death. She didn't regret it one bit, but, now as her lungs violently protested the further abuse she had heaped on them, she did regret one thing.....not taking the rescue inhaler that was given to her just a few hours ago. She had left it, completely forgotten, on the rolling tray in her room. She wasn't actually _used_ to taking medication. It was simply forgotten in her desire to set her own mind at ease.

She opened her eyes and looked over at Eric and the first strains of actual regret seeped in. He looked terrified. She knew that he was terrified for her. Calleigh wanted to reach over and squeeze his hand, but both of his were gripping the steering wheel, making certain they didn't end up hitting anyone while speeding back to the hospital. Taking a careful breath, she managed, "Eric, I'm sorry."

Eric gave no indication that he had heard her, which he hadn't over the siren. Risking a glance to the side once more, he saw that Calleigh was looking at him intensely and that her lips were beginning to get a distinct bluish tinge from oxygen deprivation. His fear for her ratcheted up another level. "Hang in there, Querida, we're almost there."

She nodded at him, realizing that her voice had been too weak for him to hear. She closed her eyes and concentrated keeping her breathing steady and even. Suddenly, the Hummer stopped and her door was pulled open. She opened her eyes just as she was lifted onto a gurney and an oxygen mask was placed on her face.

Things happened very fast and this time she was awake through it all. At least she hadn't been intubated this time, since she was clearly breathing on her own. She flinched as a new IV line was begun and she began to become somewhat frightened. The trauma staff was speaking so fast and she tried to follow what they were doing to her, but she didn't know all the medical terms. She squeezed her eyes shut against tears that were traitorously beginning to form. One ran from the corner of her eye and she struggled to keep it together.

Suddenly, there was a soothing gentle hand smoothing her hair back. The voice was unfamiliar and softly British, but the comfort it offered was welcomed. "Take it easy, luvvy. We're almost through and then you can have a nice rest. I know you must be a bit frightened."

Calleigh opened her eyes to find a woman, whether she was a doctor of a nurse, Calleigh didn't know, but she was in scrubs and smiling kindly at her. The woman took her hand and held it, using the other to wipe Calleigh's tears away.

"Hush now, Calleigh. My name is Alma and I'll be right here with you until you can be taken to your room," she said soothingly.

"Eric," Calleigh managed to croak. Her voice was barely at a whisper.

"The good-looking fellow that's staring through the glass at you right now? He's watching you as if you were the most precious thing in his life and I'll bet you are. He's fine, just worried," Alma lilted. "Go on, turn your head and give him a look."

Calleigh gazed on Eric's face, intense and pinched with fear and worry. She briefly closes her eyes against the anguish she sees; the anguish she knows that she caused with her stubbornness. She opens her eyes and has no need to attract his attention. He can't tear his eyes away from her. She removed her oxygen mask and mouthed, "I'm sorry," before replacing it.

Eric moved directly in front of the glass, placing his hand on it, gesturing for her to relax and mouthed back to her, "I know."

Calleigh's attention was drawn back to Alma. "Luvvy, you're going to head up to ICU now. Do you want me to go with you?" Calleigh nodded and squeezed Alma's hand. "Then I'll go with you."

Alma kept holding Calleigh's hand as she was wheeled from the Emergency Room, down the hallway, into an elevator, then finally to the ICU, Eric following the entire way, speaking with Alma on Calleigh's condition. Due to her earlier stunt, she was now facing a longer hospital stay and further lengthened convalescence at home. She had put unnecessary strain on her heart and lungs and would need around the clock care for several days to make certain that the damage wasn't permanent.

Eric scowled and huffed with irritation, but kept silent for the time being. That was, until Calleigh was settled in and the door to the glass-walled room was closed. He turned to Calleigh. "Did you hear what Alma said? You could have done permanent damage to yourself, Calleigh! Why do you have to be so stubborn? You just _had _to go to the morgue against your doctor's advice. Dammit, Calleigh, isn't nearly dying once today enough for you?"

Calleigh closed her eyes at the angry tirade and knew he was right. Tears welled up and cascaded down her cheeks and she tried to speak, but her voice wasn't co-operating again. She placed both hands, as best she could, over her face and wept.

Suddenly Eric's hands covered her own and he pulled hers away from her face. "Calleigh, I'm sorry I got angry, but I could have lost you today, not only once, but twice and you have no idea how scared I was. I was terrified. I can't lose you. I don't know how to live without you. I don't want to learn."

An increased beeping came from one of the many monitors she was hooked up to. "Look, you have to calm down. This isn't good for your heart and I know that me being angry with you just now didn't help. I'm angry because I-I love you, Calleigh and I don't want to live without you. I'd get down on one knee and propose here and now, but we both know that we're still not ready for that just yet."

The tender moment was broken by a nurse coming in. She went straight to her patient and checked the monitors. "She's very agitated and we need to keep her calm. If you're upsetting her then I need to ask you to-"

"He told me he loves me," Calleigh whispered, tapping the nurse's hand. "He said he loves me."

The nurse, tall, pale, artsily bespectacled and red-haired, looked down at her patient. "Is this the first time?" she asked. When her patient nodded, she regarded the tall, handsome Hispanic man. The confession melted her romantic heart, yet she needed to remain firm. "Then congratulations are in order, but you need to keep her calm."

Eric felt abashed, like when he'd been scolded by one of his teachers for acting without thinking. "I'm sorry. I didn't know she'd get all agitated, Nurse Rain. I'll keep her calm. I just, I just wanted her to know how I felt because-"

"Because it might make her take better care of her recovery, right?" Nurse Rain said softly, understanding the need. She remembered the first time her husband, Rio, told her he loved her. "Don't just tell her, uhm..."

"Eric."

"Eric. Show her. I know you have already, but care for her in a way that tells her how much you love her. Keep her calm and centered. You love her so you know how," Nurse Rain said gently, understandingly.

Eric eyed the slender red-headed nurse with new eyes. She was incredibly perceptive. "Can I stay with her and hold her? I promise all I'll do is take care of her. I know there's rules in ICU but-"

"Stay with her and she'll rest better," Rain said. "I'll smooth it over with the desk. You do what you need to do to ease the both of you."

Eric gave her a soft smile. "Thank you." He moved to lay next to Calleigh and take her in his arms.

"Just make sure you don't disturb her monitor feeds. The doctor will have my head," she said, smiling at the young couple, so obviously in love. It was a mature love, not one born of intense, impulsive passion, but one born of close friendship, understanding and deep feelings. This was no flash in the pan. It was a love that would last.

Eric placed small kisses in Calleigh's hair as he cuddled her close. He could feel her exhaustion as she let out a soft sigh, accompanied by a short burst of coughing."Easy, Querida. Just rest now. I'll be here when you wake up."

She raised her head and brushed a tired kiss across his lips."I love you, too," she whispered before closing her eyes and drifting off. It had been a long day.


End file.
